


Falling In Love At A Coffee Shop

by whenidance



Category: Glee
Genre: Alternate Universe, Friendship, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-02-15
Updated: 2011-02-15
Packaged: 2017-10-21 23:03:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,405
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/230830
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/whenidance/pseuds/whenidance
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A series of coffee shop scenes throughout Kurt & Blaine’s relationship and Kurt, Blaine, Rachel, & Mercedes’ friendship. Based on <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kLfjhSmvFjM">Falling In Love At A Coffee Shop</a> by Landon Pigg (yes, that song from that commercial). Written for <a href="http://community.livejournal.com/kurt_blaine/6639.html?thread=30910191#t30910191">this prompt</a>.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Falling In Love At A Coffee Shop

**Author's Note:**

> Blaine lives in Lima and I can’t keep up with how old these lovely kids are, so for the sake of this fic, Kurt, Blaine, Rachel, & Mercedes are Sophomores. Also borrowing the _Seasons of Love at Nationals_ idea from whoever mentioned it on gleeclub like a year ago (and honestly RM, if you don’t give us something as epic when they finally get there, I will be severely disappointed). [This is the version of _Yesterday_ I was thinking of in my head.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MJznCHjwGXM) The baristas are named after my own, so thanks to Katie, Mandy, Marcus, and Vanessa for keeping me caffeinated and sane.

_I think that possibly  
Maybe I've fallen for you  
Yes there's a chance  
That I've fallen quite hard over you_

April 2011

Kurt pulled up to the Lima Bean and swung his bag over his shoulder as he got out of the Navigator. He gripped the strap, searching the parking lot for a sign Blaine was already there. They had carpooled home that weekend in Kurt’s car, and Blaine’s mom was supposed to be dropping Blaine off at the coffee shop so they could work on their French project for a few hours. Afterwards, he had the usual Saturday family dinner, and movie night with Rachel and Mercedes. Tina might even show up, depending on what Mike’s (and his mother’s) plans were. He loved his packed weekends home; it made his overly scheduled weeks at Dalton worth it. That’s when Kurt was happiest, getting the most out of every moment. He never realized how precious everyone in Lima was until he wasn’t there.

He looked around the coffee shop and didn’t see Blaine, so he went ahead and ordered their regulars and grabbed a table towards the back. The barista had smiled at him when he ordered, asking where his friend was. _Great, now even the people that work here know our order_ , he thought to himself. _That’s not love that’s just … repetition._ He and Blaine hadn’t been in this particular Lima Bean together since that disastrous Gap incident. They had been going to the one by Blaine’s house instead.

As much as he hated the cringe-worthy moment, it had been an eye-opener for Kurt. Blaine didn’t have all the answers anymore than he did. If anything, Blaine was pulling a stunt Kurt would have a year ago – granted, Jeremiah was gay and Finn wasn’t, but it was the moment Kurt stopped romanticizing Blaine. Blaine was able to be a perfect gentleman in every other aspect of his life, but finally failed horribly at something. Something fairly important – relationships.

So why did Kurt love him more for it?

He saw Blaine walk through the door and wave, a thin red-and-grey scarf swooped tight around his neck. Now that it was April, it was warm enough to not need it, and Kurt had a fleeting thought that possibly Blaine was wearing it just for him. Blaine wasn’t usually into fashion statements. They hadn’t spoke of either incident again, the Gap Attack or the coffee shop talk afterwards, but there hadn’t been a moment of awkwardness because of it.

That had to count for something right?

He smiled brightly at Blaine and handed him his coffee.

 _I've seen the paths that your eyes wander down  
I wanna come too  
I think that possibly  
Maybe I've fallen for you_

August 2011

Blaine sat at a table outside the Lima Bean waiting for Kurt to arrive. He hadn’t seen Kurt in almost six weeks (not that he was counting) between family trips and moving homes and summer jobs, and the summer was closing in on them. They had still talked almost daily, and Kurt, Mercedes, and Rachel had made the trip to King’s Island once to see him, but he had to admit he had really missed Kurt. Part of him couldn’t wait to be back at Dalton where he could see him every day. He had never really wanted the summer to end before, and he could never understand why anyone would.

Blaine couldn’t help himself from giving Kurt a tight hug when he finally arrived. Blaine knew he was the king of mixed signals, and he really was working on that, but he couldn’t resist. They made small talk as they stood in line to get their coffees, and Blaine couldn’t get over what six weeks had done to Kurt. Blaine was fairly certain he looked the same, but Kurt had grown probably another two inches, and his arms were more defined, probably from working in his dad’s garage and moving boxes all summer. His pale skin just had the teeniest hint of a tan, which was surprising because Blaine knew he wore SPF85 at all times.

Kurt gave him a funny look and he realized he had been caught staring. Luckily, it was their turn next, and their favorite barista, Katie, was working the register, remarking that she hadn’t seen them in a while and asking if they wanted the usual.

When they sat down, Kurt looked a little nervous, which made no sense. “Everything okay?” Blaine asked with a smile.

And then … it wasn’t. Kurt was talking so fast, trying to get all the words out he had kept from him all summer, because he’d wanted to tell him _in person,_ about Karofsky, and two freshmen, and how he was finally gone and …. Kurt was going back. He would be safe there.

And all Blaine could selfishly think about was why he had decided to work the summer at King’s Island, why he had gone to see his grandparents in Florida for two whole weeks, why he didn’t spend the summer _with Kurt._

Kurt looked at him expectantly, his face lined with worry. Blaine realized he hadn’t said anything. Kurt probably thought he was mad at him.

 _Well,_ Blaine thought, _Dalton may be losing Kurt Hummel, but I’m sure not._

 _No one understands me  
Quite like you do  
Through all of the shadowy corners of me_

November 2011

The coffee shop was relatively empty for a Thursday afternoon. Rachel and Mercedes chatted with Vanessa about the community theater production she was currently in. The tiny Hispanic girl had more energy than Rachel on a good day, which Kurt didn’t think was possible, but he supposed it was helpful in her line of work. She certainly didn’t need her perk of free coffee to make her chipper.

They were waiting on Blaine. Dalton had a teacher work day the following day, so Blaine had driven home for the long weekend. Kurt had been worried that going back to McKinley meant losing his friendship with Blaine, but that wasn’t the case. They still tried to meet once a week and talked and texted daily. If anything, it had made their friendship stronger, because they were both in better places now. Kurt was happy, Blaine was happy – at least around Kurt, anyways.

Blaine finally arrived, offering smiles and hugs to all of them – even Vanessa, before they settled down to their usual table.

“So, what are your plans for your day off?” Rachel asked, as she sipped her soy latte.

Blaine groaned. “I have a ton of Warbler paperwork to get through. I am so not cut out for this council thing. I’d rather just sing, but Wes convinced me it would look good on my applications. Which is stupid, because I’m just going to OSU.”

Kurt rolled his eyes. Blaine was such an overachiever. He couldn’t blame him, Dalton groomed overachievers. There was a reason why the Warbler council was made up of juniors instead of seniors – college applications.

“It sounds so formal,” Mercedes replied, frowning. “If you can spare some time, you should come to our practice tomorrow. Kurt and I are singing our duet, and I don’t want to spoil the surprise, but the theme of the week is _passion._ ” Mercedes wiggled her eyebrows and giggled, which made Kurt roll his eyes again.

“Passion? Really? Where does he come up with this stuff?” Blaine asked, laughing along.

“He means well,” Rachel said, frowning. “We were just supposed to sing a song we’re passionate about. I don’t see how horrible that is! And, Mercedes, as good of a friend as Blaine is, I really don’t think we should be inviting a Warbler councilmember to our rehearsals.”

“Oh, come on, we’re not even competing at Sectionals this year. They paired us up with the school for teen moms and the Hipsters again.” He paused to drink his mocha. “Why do we always get the crazy schools?”

“That’s true, Rach, and you know, I could argue that you have Kurt, who has almost a full year of Warbler knowledge under his belt.” Blaine’s eyes twinkled under the florescent lighting. He was turning on full charm for her. “I could even bring you coffee as a bribe.”

“No!” she shouted a little too loudly. She cleared her throat and lowered her voice. “No, no milk before practice, soy or not. It does horrible things to your vocal chords.”

They sat in silence, Mercedes and Blaine silently pleading across the table at Rachel. “Oh, fine, I suppose it wouldn’t be the end of the world. But I’m going to talk to Mr. Schue in the morning to make sure he doesn’t mention a single thing about Sectionals!”

“Nice!” Blaine reached across the table to high five Kurt, who was trying desperately not to blush. If he had known Blaine were coming for the duet, he might have convinced Mercedes to pick a different song. He sure felt more passion for Blaine than the song they chose.

 _I never knew just what it was  
About the same coffee shop I love so much  
All of the while I never knew_

January 2012

They hadn’t spoken since they arrived. Blaine stared at his cup of coffee, wishing that he had bought a larger size. The Lima Bean had a generous refill policy, but refills involved getting up and everything was still fuzzy around the edges. Still though, being hungover wasn’t as awful as he had expected, he supposed, and he gave Kurt a weak smile before staring out the window at the snow.

The night before had been Artie’s birthday party, celebrated a week late since his parents were conveniently out of town. Kurt had brought Blaine, since he was home for the weekend, and even though he wasn’t Kurt’s date, everyone there believed he was. It probably didn’t help that he didn’t correct them. He wasn’t sure why he hadn’t, it just felt … right. The whole night was a blur. There was spiked punch, and dancing, and dancing with Kurt, and more punch, and then a game of truth or dare where Santana dared Blaine to kiss Rachel (which he did, on the cheek, because Santana hadn’t specified, and _ew_ otherwise) and Brittany asked him a truth, if he loved Kurt.

Kurt. Kurt who was the biggest paradox Blaine knew. Strong and fragile, handsome and beautiful, fierce and kind. Kurt who was his best friend, who had told Blaine he was the same, though he had a sneaking suspicion Mercedes still held that spot for him. Kurt who he couldn’t bear losing, so there was really only one way to answer it, but even if there wasn’t, his answer would be the same.

With thirteen pairs of eyes on him, he had mumbled, “Yeah,” while staring only at Kurt. Kurt’s face was unreadable, so he quickly averted his gaze and asked Quinn next, who chose truth. After she babbled on about her most embarrassing moment (Brittany had inadvertently pantsed her at a pep rally, which seemed trivial, because wasn’t she, like, _pregnant_ for all of sophomore year?), she moved on to daring Mike to run around the backyard in just his underwear. As they filed outside, Blaine slipped off to the garage for a drink refill and some air and turned around to realize Kurt had followed him.

He wished his memory wasn’t so fuzzy the next day. He knew they played their own private version of truth or dare in which Kurt dared Blaine to kiss him (which he did) and Blaine had asked Kurt what he would do if he could do anything at that moment, which resulted in Kurt pushing him up against the wall and kissing him some more. Which went on for minutes or hours, Blaine wasn’t quite sure, but he had decided it was the best feeling ever to have Kurt warm against him with his tongue in Blaine’s mouth. It would probably be even better sober. Blaine remembered Kurt eventually pulling away, and dragging him back to the party hand in hand. They got a smug look from Santana, but no one said anything, and it wasn’t long before they all passed out from sheer exhaustion.

Blaine had woken up only a few hours later, on the floor covered in random pillows and blankets. He tossed and turned, and finally gave up as to not wake anyone. He made it to the bathroom and looked in the mirror – and he looked awful. Like not enough sleep and too much alcohol and there was a red mark forming on his collarbone. Realization clicked in that it must have been _from Kurt,_ and okay, that wasn’t awful. After attempting to make himself look more presentable, he bundled up and slipped out the front door. Artie had a porch with one of those swinging benches, and it was probably one of the stupidest ideas he’d had (well, it wasn’t _the Gap,_ or anything), but rocking on it, watching the snow fall seemed like a perfect way to spend his time.

He must have woken Kurt, because not long after, Kurt came through the front door a little out of breath.

“Oh. I … I thought you had left.” Kurt’s hands were shoved deep in his coat pockets, his hair was sticking straight up, and he wasn’t wearing any shoes. Blaine tried not to laugh, because it wasn’t funny, but Kurt did look kind of adorable.

“Just wanted to get some air.” They stared at each other for a while. Kurt had to be freezing. “What are you thinking right now?”

“Honestly? That I’m probably going to die of hypothermia and I’m glad you didn’t leave.” They laughed. “You?”

“Honestly? I could really use some coffee.”

Which is how they got here, sitting at the Lima Bean by Artie’s house, drinking coffee and not talking. Blaine was fine with the not talking, just sitting and being with Kurt, but he could tell from Kurt’s expression that he was getting antsy with the thoughts in his head.

He reached across the table to grab Kurt’s hand, still cold from the outside air. Kurt looked at him questioningly. “I meant it, you know. All of it.”

Kurt gave him a small smile and squeezed his hand. “Good, because I did too.”

 _I think that possibly  
Maybe I've fallen for you  
Yes, there's a chance  
That I've fallen quite hard over you_

April 2012

If you had told Kurt at the beginning of Freshman year he’d be sitting in the Lima Bean with half of a glee club and a boy on his arm the morning after Junior Prom, he would have laughed at you.

If you had told Kurt at the beginning of Sophomore year he’d be sitting in the Lima Bean with half of a glee club and a boy on his arm the morning after Junior Prom, he would have believed the glee club part and ask who hired him an escort for the night.

If you had told Kurt at the beginning of Junior year he’d be sitting in the Lima Bean with half of a glee club and a boy on his arm the morning after Junior Prom, he would have pinched himself to see if he was dreaming.

Which he did, multiple times.

Even though McKinley had taken a hard stance on gay bullying lately, they still weren’t too keen on allowing two guys (or two girls, for that matter) to go to prom together. Mercedes had come up with some elaborate plan for Blaine to be her date on paper, having Kurt go stag, but at the last minute, Rachel started on one of her ‘single and fabulous’ kicks, so he took Rachel as his date. No other couple had coordinated outfits as well as them. It had all worked out wonderfully, they told the tacky photographer they wanted to take their photos together, and Kurt really had danced with Mercedes and Rachel just as much as Blaine. When Finn and Quinn were crowned prom king and queen, Rachel didn’t shed one tear, and even congratulated them.

The whole glee club and half the school had ended up at Santana’s after the fact, the party finally winding down around four, leaving only New Directions left to watch the sunrise, swapping stories. It was bittersweet knowing that almost half of the club was graduating, going on to college or work. Kurt didn’t even want to think about having to track down some new members to keep the club going.

Finn, Quinn, Mike, and Tina had accompanied them to the Lima Bean. They were the first people there for the day and Mandy and Katie had commented that the group made their morning, showing up still in their fancy clothes. They had taken up the large back table, everyone quiet and subdued even with the added caffeine of the coffee.

Blaine was staring at Kurt, so Kurt finally asked, “Hmm?”

“You just look really happy. Too happy for five am,” Blaine said, grinning.

“I am really happy. You. This,” Kurt said, gesturing around at them. “All of it, it’s just so surreal. I never thought it would happen to me.”

Blaine leaned over to whisper in his ear. “Kurt Hummel, you deserve all this and more, you hear me?”

Blaine had told Kurt this many times over the last four months, but it was the first time Kurt actually believed him.

 _I've seen the waters that make your eyes shine  
Now I'm shining too_

July 2012

Blaine walked a little too fast into the Lima Bean, since he was running late, and almost hit his head on the door frame. Luckily, he didn’t think anyone had seen, so he waved to Marcus and Katie and found Kurt at a table near the back with his coffee and some biscotti.

“Biscotti? Any particular reason you’re spoiling me?” he asked, smiling and taking a seat.

“I hear you’ve been working hard. All moved in finally?”

The Andersons had downsized their house now that Blaine’s older siblings were gone and at college or in their own homes. There wasn’t use for the four bedrooms plus den anymore, so the new, more modern three bedroom house was a much better fit.

“Almost. My mom said you’ll have to come over next week when we’re all unpacked for sure.” He was pretty sure his smile was conveying his excitement now, because Kurt was looking at him with an amused expression on his face.

“Are you going to tell me what’s got you so giddy?” he finally asked.

“So,” he started, drawing out the ‘o.’

“So,” Kurt repeated back to him. “Get on with it!”

“I was talking to my mom, and I didn’t realize it until yesterday, but when we moved houses we moved school zones. South Lima isn’t my local high school anymore.”

He started to drink his coffee, letting the news settle. The realization was kicking in on Kurt’s face. “You’re … you’re in McKinley’s district now?”

Blaine took another sip of his coffee, pausing to drive Kurt just a little crazy. “Yep. That’s why I’m late, my mom and I were just there dropping of transfer papers.”

That’s when Kurt started sputtering. “Blaine! You can’t just – college, and the Warblers, and _ohmygod,_ you’re lucky Wes graduated, because he would _kill you,_ he still may kill you from Northwestern, you won them Nationals you know, you – you can’t just up and leave your senior year!”

Blaine just kept calmly sipping his coffee. “But I did.” The frown on Kurt’s face caused him to momentarily think he made a mistake. “I … I thought you’d be happy, I guess we should have discussed it.”

“Blaine,” Kurt said, grabbing his hand, “it’s just – I know why I went back, all of my friends are there, New Directions makes me happy, but you? I don’t want you to come just for me.”

Blaine smiled back. “I’m not. You’re just an added perk.”

Kurt didn’t look quite convinced, but his face did soften. “Honestly, Kurt, there’s no place I’d rather be.”

 _Because, oh because  
I've fallen quite hard over you_

September 2012

“Blue Raspberry is the worst,” Mercedes said sympathetically, splitting the cookie down the middle.

“I just didn’t know it would hurt so much.” Blaine tried to drink his hot coffee as fast as possible without burning his tongue because he still felt a chill from the slushie hitting his face.

“Rethinking your bravery, Blaine?” Rachel smirked, taking the other half of Mercedes’ cookie.

Blaine started to babble on while Kurt just stared at him. “No, not really, I mean did you see those kids? That one was smaller than you, I don’t know how he made it to the ninth grade, and I’m pretty sure that red haired kid is gay and just doesn’t know it yet. That football player dude was five times bigger than them!” Kurt was trying hard not to giggle, but apparently didn’t succeed since he got an exasperated “what?!” from Blaine.

“Blaine, honey, I know it’s kind of your thing, but you really don’t have to go around saving people. Especially at McKinley.” He split his cookie with Blaine, not down the middle, giving Blaine the bigger piece. “I really thought you might have a chance to make it out of here slushie-free, since we’re Seniors now and I don’t think most people have realized you’re gay yet.”

Kurt had chosen to make the no-PDA-at-school rule for a couple of reasons. One, he wasn’t a big fan of PDA in general, and there was enough of it going on in the choir room, and two, he still felt slightly guilty that Blaine was even at McKinley. He knew it wasn’t just for him, he did believe that now, but if not holding hands with Blaine down the hall meant fewer slushies for him, it was a small price to pay. Sure, eventually word would get around and everyone would know anyways, but he had hoped to prolong it as long as possible.

“Two and a half weeks, Blaine. I think that’s a new record,” Mercedes decided, “I don’t think any of us here were slushied for the first month of school, at least.” They all laughed.

“Well,” Blaine said, splitting his cookie piece to give some more to Kurt, who was silently refusing. “Well, hopefully it’s at least two and a half more weeks before the next one.”

 _If I didn't know you, I'd rather not know  
If I couldn't have you, I'd rather be alone_

December 2012

Blaine sat sulking in the corner table. He was mad. He wasn’t mad at Kurt, he couldn’t be, he was just mad at something intangible. Mad that he couldn’t help, mad that he couldn’t do anything to make it better, mad that Kurt didn’t even want him around.

He hadn’t even noticed Mercedes and Rachel enter the Lima Bean, but the appeared with a coffee refill and slice of cake to split. He didn’t say anything at first, but when they sat down silently, he was able to whisper his thanks.

And then Mercedes was pulling him into her shoulder, telling him it would be okay and calling him baby, Rachel rubbing at his back, and that was the last straw. Because regardless of the stuff with Kurt – these weren’t just his friends anymore, they were Blaine’s friends as well; he actually had people there for him. He bawled into her shoulder far longer than he should have, crying for Kurt, and his father, and all of them, not holding back the tears he had any longer. When he pulled himself away from Mercedes, he was fairly sure he had turned customers of the Lima Bean to flee, and was pretty embarrassed for his outburst, but Rachel and Mercedes kept patting his shoulders and wiping his face.

“I just,” he started, his sniffles slowing down, “I just wanted him to know I’m here for him. I don’t even know what the hell to do, but I wanted him to know and … I know he didn’t mean all of the things he said, but –“ Blaine started getting worked up again, so he tried to calm his breathing. “They still hurt, you know? We’ve never fought, we’ve been together almost a year and we’ve never fought.”

He saw the two girls exchange a look, disbelief to the fact that they’d never fought, but he ignored it. “Blaine, it’s not your fault,” Rachel started. “He was like this last time, and that was before he had you, and Finn and Carole … I don’t think he knows how to accept your help or what to do with it.”

“Yeah.” The tears had stopped completely now, and he used a napkin to wipe his face. Mercedes pushed the coffee cup towards him and he drank, the warmth filling him up and calming him down some more.

They sat in silence for a bit, and heard the bells on the front door chime. Blaine heard Marcus behind the counter say, “Over there,” and before he knew it, Kurt was standing in front of them, looking as bad as Blaine felt.

“My dad. He woke up,” he said quietly, and Blaine was up out of his chair hugging him, holding him tight like he never wanted to let go.

“Blaine, I am so, so, so sorry,” Kurt whispered in his ear, and Blaine could tell he was choking back tears.

“I know, I know, don’t worry about it.” Blaine rocked him back and forth and this is all he had meant by it, being there for Kurt. “Everything will be okay.”

 _I never knew just what it was  
About the same coffee shop I love so much  
All of the while I never knew_

April 2013

Kurt smiled as he held Blaine’s hand towards the back of the group. It was the afternoon before Nationals, and the Starbucks in Times Square was more than equipped to handle seventeen high schoolers with highly complex orders, but it still looked like chaos to him. They had just finished their final dress rehearsal, and Mrs. Pillsbury-Howell had offered to buy them all coffee to celebrate. Rachel was up towards the front, lecturing on milk products and vocal chords, and Mercedes was rolling her eyes and motioning for Blaine and Kurt to come distract her. Kurt just shook his head and laughed.

As usual, New Directions hadn’t decided on songs until days before they left for New York. Kurt was starting them off with a solo, The Beatles’ _Yesterday._ Kurt almost argued that them coming in from the back was overused at this point, but there was some comfort in it – it _was_ their signature. He walked up one aisle singing while Brittany danced up the other, and they all met on stage. Blaine and Rachel were following him with a duet the latest upbeat Maroon 5 song, and they were going to close with _Don’t Stop Believing,_ until Quinn, of all people, had mentioned _Seasons Of Love_ to him in a Facebook chat from her dorm room at DePauw. They had learned it in four days, and it was probably cliché as hell, for some rag tag Midwestern group of kids to be singing it their first time in New York, but they hadn’t made it through one rehearsal without one or more of the Seniors breaking into tears.

It probably didn’t help that the song reminded Kurt of Blaine either. Rent was the first play they had seen, way back when they were barely friends, and he couldn’t help glancing over at him all throughout the song.

“You really could measure our past year in cups of coffee,” Blaine mused, obviously thinking the same thing as they watched Sam try to explain to the barista what he wanted.

“Is that like how college students measure their four years in alcoholic beverages? No offense, Blaine,” he said through his laughter, “I’ll probably be sticking to coffee then too.” Blaine and Kurt had both decided on OSU, Kurt’s decision based on the fact that they had a small campus in Lima in case his dad needed him and the full ride scholarship Mrs. Pillsbury-Howell helped him obtain. He now knew how Blaine felt transferring to McKinley that year – it wasn’t _for_ Kurt, but that certainly didn’t hurt.

Blaine swung their arms back and forth as they inched closer to the counter. “I don’t know, the last time you got drunk you made out with me.”

“And how many times have I made out with you since, all not while drinking?”

“Quite a few.” Blaine winked at him, and Kurt quirked his eyebrow, but said nothing else.

“I don’t know,” Kurt finally said quietly, as they sipped their free beverages at a table with Rachel and Mercedes. “If I’m measuring in love, I’ve had a pretty good year.” He smiled at all of them, his silent thank you for the last few months, when they’d offered him support even though he knew he had been a raging bitch at times. He really hadn’t had this much love ever, from his family and friends, and it felt pretty good.

 _All of the while  
All of the while, it was you  
You – You – You _

December 2013

“Blaine, I really don’t think we should stop for coffee! Didn’t you have enough before we left?” They had driven back from OSU together on the nineteenth of December, leaving Blaine’s car on campus to save gas. “We need to get settled, and I still need to go out and get a few more things before the Christmas party with your family tomorrow, and my dad’s expecting us!”

Blaine ignored all of his protests and pulled into the Lima Bean parking lot. “Come on, it won’t take long.”

Kurt was rambling on about all of the things that needed to be done before Christmas, all the things that had been neglected due to finals, when finally he stopped in his tracks. “Wait, is that Mercedes’ Civic?”

Blaine just smiled and shrugged his shoulders as they walked past the small red car, and Kurt shut up and picked up the pace. They had gone to see Mercedes at Kent once that semester, and she had come down to Columbus twice, but Blaine knew that Kurt was in serious need of some time with his girls. They hadn’t seen Rachel at all since she left for New York in August, at least she would be a surprise.

Blaine couldn’t help but grin at the squeals the three of them made when they saw each other, and he went to order their drinks, giving them a moment.

Before long, they were sitting around their favorite table, swapping stories just like the first time they had coffee three years ago. The only thing different was that Mercedes now had some boy drama to add on to Rachel’s, and they were discussing class loads instead of Regionals song selections.

“What are you thinking about, boy?” Mercedes said, and Blaine realized she was talking to him. He finished his biscotti and cleared his throat.

“Just about the first time I had coffee with you all. If you had told me three years ago, I’d be back here again with you all, I don’t know if I’d believe you.” He let out a laugh, realizing how that came out. “That was supposed to be a compliment.”

“Blaine Anderson: Still failing at expressing his feelings in 2013,” Kurt said, waving his hands as if it was a Broadway show title, and Blaine pushed him with his shoulder.

“No, seriously, I tell Kurt all the time, but I want you guys to know too, I’m really happy to have met you.”

“Awwwwww, sappy moment, seriously, don’t make me cry,” Rachel said, fanning her face.

“Okay, don’t cry,” Mercedes said, whipping out her phone. “I want a picture of the four of us before the crying if we’re going to start that, Mandy, can you take it?” she asked, walking over to the counter and motioning to her friends to follow.

The four huddled around the fake Christmas tree – the Lima Bean was never short on holiday decorations – while Mandy snapped a few photos.

There were lots of photos taken that Christmas break, but the one of the four of them at the Lima Bean was still Blaine’s favorite.


End file.
